Humanitarian Situation Update #279 | West Bank

The Humanitarian Situation Update is issued by OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory twice a week. The Gaza Strip is covered on Tuesdays and the West Bank on Thursdays. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Updates on Gaza will be on 15 April.

Key Highlights

• On 8 April, Israeli forces gave closure orders, effective in 30 days, for six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem, impacting about 800 boys and girls.
• About 700,000 Palestinians across the West Bank needed food assistance in 2024, a nearly 100 per cent increase compared with the period before October 2023, WFP reports.
• After being displaced by settler violence and access restrictions in February, five households in the Jordan Valley were displaced by demolitions by Israeli authorities.
• Over 100 structures were demolished by Israeli authorities across the West Bank between 25 March and 7 April for lacking building permits, roughly half of which were in the Jordan Valley area.
• Nearly half of over 40 settler attacks documented in the last two weeks affected Bedouin and herding communities, including incidents involving arson, break-ins, and destruction of critical livelihood sources.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 25 March and 7 April, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including two children, and injured at least 130 others, including 34 children, across the West Bank. An additional Palestinian fatality after 7 April is reported under “Developments in the northern West Bank.” For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot.
  • On 25 March, Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian man from Al ‘Eizariya town, allegedly after attempting to enter East Jerusalem without a permit near Al ‘Eizariya.
  • On 25 March, an Israeli drone strike killed an 18-year-old Palestinian after Israeli forces surrounded a shop in Qalqiliya city and exchanged fire with him. Israeli forces withheld the body and injured two other Palestinians with live ammunition.
  • On 26 March, Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of an 18-year-old Palestinian man on the road between Huwwara town and Beita village, in Nablus governorate. According to the Israeli military, they shot a masked man holding stones.
  • On 29 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man after surrounding a house during a raid in Tammun town, south of Tubas city.
  • On 2 April, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man after raiding his house in the Old City of Nablus and detained his brother.
  • On 2 April, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and injured two others during a raid in Silat al Harithiya village, in Jenin governorate. According to the village council, Palestinians threw explosive devices at Israeli military jeeps at the village’s main entrance, and Israeli forces fired live ammunition at the Palestinians.
  • On 3 April, Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian man, after he* allegedly threw stones at Israeli vehicles near Husan village, in Bethlehem governorate.
  • On 4 April, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in Jenin city. The forces were searching the Palestinian man’s house and shot him as he attempted to flee in his vehicle.
  • On 6 April, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy and injured two other children with live ammunition in Turmus’ayya town, in Ramallah governorate. According to the Israeli military, the boys were throwing stones at Israeli vehicles travelling on Road 60 after which they were shot. Israeli forces detained one of the injured boys for about an hour and handed over the body of the deceased boy to Palestinian paramedics.
• Between 25 March and 7 April 2025, OCHA documented 44 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians that resulted in casualties or property damage across 35 Palestinian communities in the West Bank—nearly half of which were in Bedouin or herding communities. These attacks led to the injury of 25 Palestinians, including five children, and one foreign national. Two Israeli children were also injured by Palestinians in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians. At least nine incidents—some occurring more than once in the same community—involved settlers breaking into Palestinian communities, homes, or animal shelters, often at night or in the early morning hours. In total, at least 10 homes and 290 trees and saplings were vandalized or uprooted, and six vehicles, a chicken coop, and agricultural equipment were fully or partially burned.
• One of the most severe incidents occurred on 1 April, when dozens of settlers broke into Duma village, in Nablus governorate, setting fire to five vehicles, partially burning a chicken coop, and spraying graffiti on the walls of several homes. During the same incident, Israeli forces raided the village and reportedly fired tear gas canisters and live ammunition, injuring three Palestinians who were transported to a hospital. Another major attack in Jurish village, also in Nablus governorate, accounted for the uprooting of 200 olive trees—the largest single loss of trees reported during the period. Water infrastructure was also targeted in at least five incidents, including damage to irrigation networks, water tanks, and pipelines—most notably the destruction of a 1,700-metre pipeline serving over five dunams of farmland in An Nazla ash Sharqiya village, in Tulkarm governorate. At least 10 other incidents involved harm to livestock or the theft of animals, including in Deir Dibwan and Al-Mughayyir (Ramallah), Al Farisiya-Nab’a al Ghazal (Tubas) in the northern Jordan Valley, and Kafr ad Dik (Salfit), where settlers stole donkeys, killed sheep, or injured animals belonging to Palestinian herders.
• Since early 2023, the area of Masafer Yatta in the south Hebron hills has seen a sharp and sustained escalation in settler violence, resulting in both casualties and widespread property damage. The frequency of such incidents has risen dramatically—from an average of 1.5 incidents per month in 2021 and 2022 to nearly five incidents per month over the past two years. This upward trend has continued into 2025, with OCHA documenting almost six incidents per month in the first quarter alone. Compared to the baseline average in the past 15 years, the scale of increase is stark: only 18 incidents were documented between 2006 and 2020, while 180 incidents were recorded between 2021 and 2024.
• Over the past two weeks, Jinba community in Masafer Yatta, one of 13 communities located within the boundaries of an Israeli-designated firing zone (Firing Zone 918), witnessed at least two attacks involving both Israeli settlers and Israeli forces. On 28 March, an Israeli settler reportedly riding a quad bike, attacked a Palestinian man and his 17-year-old son with a stick, causing serious injuries. According to information documented by OCHA, the two injured Palestinians barely made their way to a nearby community where the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) transported them to hospital. Less than two hours later, a group of armed Israeli settlers who are believed to reside in nearby settlements, broke into a residential shelter, injured a 60-year-old man and his two sons (aged 14 and 16 years), and damaged belongings and windows. All were transported to hospital, with the 14-year-old boy being in critical condition. Residents subsequently threw stones at the settlers, injuring two 17-year-old settlers according to Israeli sources, after which Israeli forces raided the community and fired stun grenades. Israeli forces then gathered all the males in the community, handcuffed and blindfolded them, and detained them. After about an hour, Israeli forces released 13 of the detainees and continued to detain the remaining 22, including a boy. Less than 24 hours later, in the early morning hours of 29 March, Israeli forces raided the community, forcing its residents out of their shelters and causing extensive damage to 22 residential shelters, a school, a clinic, a mosque, animal shelters and agricultural assets. Local sources reported that Israeli settlers wearing military-like uniforms participated in the raid, during which two sheep were killed and three went missing. The forces withdrew from the community after four hours, with no arrests reported.
• Over the past two decades, the Israeli authorities have built dozens of road sections (often made of tunnels, underpasses and sunken roads), reconnecting Palestinian areas that were cut off from each other by the Barrier, referring to these as “fabric of life” roads. On 29 March, the Israeli security cabinet approved the construction of one such road between Az Za’ayem and Al Eizariya towns, in Jerusalem governorate. The new road will connect to an existing section of the same network that has already been completed between ‘Anata and Az Za’ayem. This alternative road network would serve as the main route for all Palestinian traffic travelling between the central and southern West Bank, effectively diverting it from the current route via Road 1 linking Jerusalem to Jericho and which passes by Ma’ale Adumim settlement. This area is slated to be encircled by the Barrier, which was approved by the Israeli Cabinet in 2006, and has been designated by the Israeli authorities for the E1 settlement plan and the expansion of Ma’ale Adumim settlement. For many years, the humanitarian community has raised concerns about the humanitarian impact of settlement expansion and the construction of the Barrier around Ma’ale Adumim settlement. Among others, there are concerns the plans would effectively sever the geographic connection between the central and southern West Bank, heighten the risk of forcible displacement facing 18 Bedouin communities living in the area, and increase demolitions in these and other surrounding Palestinian communities, including those that lie along, or are adjacent to, the path of the road network being created. Over the past two weeks, nine structures were demolished in Al Fheidat area of Anata town and North 'Anata Bedouin community, both located in Area C of Jerusalem governorate, on the periphery of the “fabric of life” road network.
• Between 25 March and 7 April, OCHA documented the demolition of 105 structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. This led to the displacement of 122 Palestinians, including 64 children, and otherwise affected over 200 people who had livelihood structures or water and sanitation facilities demolished. These include 103 structures in Area C of the West Bank and two structures located in East Jerusalem.
• Demolitions in Area C included one mass demolition incident on 6 April in Khirbet ar Ras al Ahmar community, located in an Israeli-designated firing zone. Israeli forces demolished 33 structures, including 11 residential tents, 16 animal structures and six mobile latrines, in addition to damaging water tanks and solar panels. The demolition displaced five households, comprising 33 people, including 19 children and six women, who had been forcibly displaced in early February 2025 from Ein al Hilwa - Wadi al Faw community, also in the northern Jordan Valley, due to settler violence. This is the highest number of structures demolished in a single incident in the Jordan Valley since November 2020, when about 80 structures were demolished and 70 people were displaced in Humsa - Al Bqai'a herding community. Out of the structures demolished in Area C, 48 were demolished in mostly herding communities in the Jordan Valley area, displacing 33 people. In 2025, the monthly average of structures demolished (46) and people displaced (30) in Jordan Valley communities have both doubled compared with 2024, when on average of 23 structures were demolished and 15 people were displaced per month in the area.
• On 8 April, according to the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, Israeli officials from the Jerusalem Municipality and Israeli forces forcibly entered and presented closure orders, effective in 30 days, to six UNRWA-run schools in East Jerusalem, impacting about 800 students who may not be able to complete the academic year. He stated: “These illegal closure orders come in the wake of Israeli Knesset legislation seeking to curtail UNRWA operations. UNRWA is committed to stay and deliver education and other basic services to Palestine Refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with the General Assembly resolution mandated to the Agency.” The Director of UNRWA Affairs for the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, also reiterated that “UNRWA schools are operationally independent and inviolable under international law.” In a separate incident on the same day, Israeli forces raided Al Quds University, firing tear gas, stun grenades and live ammunition. PRCS reported that at least 26 Palestinians were injured.
• Between 25 March and 7 April, according to information documented by OCHA, Israeli forces raided 12 refugee camps across the West Bank, resulting in the injury of at least 40 Palestinians, including nine children, and the detention of at least 30 people. In one incident on 25 March, Israeli forces raided about 15 houses in al Fawwar refugee camp, in Hebron governorate, causing significant damage to furniture and belongings. During the operation, Israeli forces fired tear gas, stun grenades, and live ammunition and Palestinian threw stones at the forces. As a result, a 14-year-old Palestinian child was injured by a live bullet and a two-year-old girl suffered tear gas inhalation. Israeli forces searched and damaged a PRCS ambulance as well as physically assaulted and injured two paramedics. Another raid on 2 April took place in Ad Duheisha refugee camp, in Bethlehem governorate, where Israeli forces raided more than eight homes and turned several houses into detention centres. Thirteen people were injured during confrontations between Palestinians, who threw stones, and Israeli forces, who physically assaulted ten Palestinians and shot two others with live ammunitions. Eight homes sustained extensive damage to their personal belongings. Israeli soldiers were reportedly seen posting flyers on the walls warning residents of further consequences due to armed activities. More than 15 Palestinians were also detained during the seven-hour operation.
• On the fourth and final Friday of Ramadan, 28 March, it was estimated that about 10,000 Palestinians holding West Bank ID cards crossed through checkpoints to reach Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. In addition, on 26 March, some 8,000 Palestinians holding West Bank ID cards crossed for Laylat al Qadr, a sacred night in Islam that falls sometime during the last 10 nights of Ramadan. In total, over 44,000 Palestinians are estimated to have cross through checkpoints during Ramadan in 2025. This figure is slightly higher than the number of people who crossed during Ramadan in 2024 (35,000) but is only 11 per cent of the estimated 388,000 people who accessed East Jerusalem during Ramadan in 2023, before 7 October. According to measures announced by Israeli authorities, men over 55 and women over 50, with a valid magnetic ID card and a one-day Israeli-issued permit, and children under 12 accompanied by a parent with a birth certificate, were eligible to cross into East Jerusalem through two Barrier checkpoints – Qalandiya in the north and Gilo/300 in the south. Restrictions on age have tightened compared with the period between 2017 and 2019, when men over 40 and women of all ages, with a valid magnetic ID card and a one-day Israeli-issued permit, and children under 12 accompanied by a parent with a birth certificate, were eligible to cross into East Jerusalem.
• In Hebron’s restricted H2 area, it is estimated that 4,500 Palestinians performed Friday prayers at Al Ibrahimi Mosque on the fourth Friday of Ramadan, compared with about 5,000 people in 2024. In 2025, about 23,000 people were able to access the Mosque during Ramadan, compared with 14,000 in 2024. Israeli forces allowed men over 50 and women of all ages to enter without inspection, while men between 27 and 50 years of age were subject to inspection. Males under 27 were generally denied entry unless accompanied by family members. Access was only permitted via Al Ibrahimi Mosque Entrance checkpoint. Abu Rish and As Salaymeh checkpoints (CP 160), which are usually open throughout the week, remained closed for the fourth consecutive Friday, hindering access to the mosque especially for the residents who live outside the restricted area of H2, forcing them to make a detour to reach the mosque. Access within the Ibrahimi Mosque was also restricted, as worshippers were allowed in the Muslim section of the building, which makes up approximately 35 per cent of the total space. In previous years, 65 per cent of the mosque, would be open every Friday during Ramadan. Just over a week after Ramadan ended, on 7 April, Israeli forces restricted access to the Mosque by placing locks on four rooms leading to shrines, which would normally be administered by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Hebron Municipality. On the same day, Israeli forces detained two Ibrahimi Mosque employees, including the director of the Mosque, confiscated their phones and banned them from entering the Mosque for 15 days.
• In the West Bank, escalating instability and economic downturn in 2024 have deepened food insecurity, according to the annual country report by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in the State of Palestine. Escalating violence and movement restrictions significantly increased economic hardship, food insecurity and limited the access of humanitarian actors.* The Food Security Cluster estimated that at least 700,000 people needed food assistance in 2024, a 17 per cent increase from the start of the year and a 99 per cent increase compared with the period prior 7 October 2023. Food consumption remained below target levels, with 40 per cent of WFP-supported households maintaining borderline and poor food consumption, and an increase in negative coping strategies was observed, with 67 per cent of households adopting crisis or emergency measures (up from 46 per cent in 2023). To meet growing needs, WFP delivered life-saving food and cash assistance to some 283,000 people in the West Bank in 2024. Additionally, WFP implemented 12 climate-resilient agriculture interventions, focusing on asset creation and rehabilitation for 6,350 people (1,651 women and 4,699 men). These included the establishment of greenhouses, home gardens, hydroponics, beekeeping, animal sheds, and food processing facilities. The activities were implemented in 43 localities in five governorates across the West Bank (Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqilya).

Developments in the northern West Bank

• On 23 February, the Israeli authorities announced that they instructed the military to prepare for a “long stay” in the northern West Bank refugee camps. Referring to the announcement, on 3 April, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated: “Israeli operations in the northern West Bank have killed hundreds of people, destroyed entire refugee camps and makeshift medical sites, and displaced over 40,000 Palestinians. The announcement that residents must not return to their homes for a year raises serious concerns about long-term mass displacement.” According to the Jenin and Tulkarm Municipalities, the presence of Israeli forces is mainly concentrated inside the refugee camps and their surroundings, with at least three to four military patrols present throughout the cities per day.
• On 8 April, Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian woman from Bidya village (Salfit) who allegedly threw stones at Israeli forces and approached them with a knife near Ariel settlement. As of 10 April, over 90 per cent of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2025 were in the six northern West Bank governorates of Jenin, Tubas, Nablus, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Salfit.
• Seven Israelis, including five members of Israeli forces, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank so far in 2025, all of them in the northern West Bank.
• On 9 April, Israeli forces launched an operation that lasted for 24 hours in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus city. According to the Palestinian District Coordination Office, Israeli authorities informed them that a curfew would be imposed within the camp for 24 hours. Initial reports indicate that Israeli forces are conducting a large-scale search and arrest operation inside the camp, entering homes and detaining residents. Residents of four homes have reportedly been evacuated from the camp, resulting in the displacement of eight families.
• The UN and its partners continue to respond to the deepening needs of displaced families in affected areas in the northern West Bank, including by providing food, water and sanitation assistance, health services, and psycho-social support.
• UNRWA has expanded its health services for displaced people by establishing 11 alternative health points in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates, two working five days a week, while the other nine have two mobile health teams rotating during the week. Provided services encompass healthcare for patients, provision of medications, maternal health and vaccination, while ensuring referrals for specialised healthcare services through an electronic system. UNRWA also keeps operating its four pre-existing health points in Jenin governorate and has a team working at the Ministry of Health (MoH) clinic in Jenin city, providing vaccination to refugee children as well as providing services through an electronic referral system in five towns in the Jenin governorate. Moreover, a mobile health team was deployed to serve five areas surrounding the camps.
• At all health points, UNRWA psychological counsellors provide mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS), while UNRWA field teams provide psychological support, including sessions for children and women and psychological first aid to more than 3,000 families. For one such family interviewed by UNRWA, a mother of three who was recently widowed, shares the psychological trauma of having their home demolished and being displaced from Tulkarm refugee camp: “It was an indescribable experience. My six-year-old daughter lost the ability to speak due to the trauma after our home was raided, and we were forced to evacuate.”
• During the last week of Ramadan, humanitarian partners provided about 850 food parcels, including fresh vegetables to displaced families in Jenin and Tulkarm. This distribution is part of a collaborative effort between humanitarian organizations and the private sector, which plays a key role in reaching vulnerable populations. It addresses the immediate needs of displaced families while also supporting the livelihood of small-scale food producers. The initiative will continue as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen food security and support both displaced families and small-scale farmers during this challenging period.
• Access to Water Sanitation and Hygiene remains precarious in areas affected by Israeli operations. On 3 April, Israeli military bulldozers damaged an 800-metre segment of a road in the Iktaba neighbourhood, in Tulkarm city. According to Tulkarm Municipality, the bulldozing of the road damaged water and sewage networks, causing disconnections; the municipality managed to rehabilitate the networks the following day. In Jenin city, at least 15,000 people still depend on water trucking to have access to water.
• Since the beginning of the Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank on 21 January, humanitarian partners have distributed over 3,000 hygiene kits, about 320 water storage tanks, 20 mobile latrines, and more than 1,000 solid waste containers. Furthermore, about 26,600 metres of water and sanitation networks were installed or repaired and 8,640 cubic metres of water was distributed to displaced families in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas.
• On 6 April, in-person governmental education resumed in Jenin and Tulkarem cities for the first time, except for six schools (four in Tulkarm, two in Jenin) that remain closed due to their proximity to affected refugee camps. Additionally, ten UNRWA schools in the camps remain closed, serving over 4,400 students (four in Jenin camp, four in Tulkarm camp and two in Nur Shams camp).

Funding

• As of 10 April 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$195.5 million out of the $4.07 billion (4.8 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 88 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 12 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during February 2025, the OPT Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 87 ongoing projects, totalling $62.6 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 50 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 25 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 37 out of the 62 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

* Asterisks indicate that a figure, sentence, or section has been rectified, added, or retracted after the initial publication of this update.